Rob Andrew, the man charged with setting up a working group to examine rugby’s approach to concussion, has admitted that the Rugby Football Union have to do more to tackle what is the game’s most urgent injury problem.

Andrew, who won 71 caps as an England international and is now the RFU’s Director of Operations, also praised the contribution made by The Mail on Sunday’s concussion campaign, which has been running since the start of this season.

While the RFU have been accused of being slow to move on the issue, Andrew insists that concussion is at the top of the governing body’s agenda.

Taken to hospital : Leicester's Toby Flood was carried off on stretcher with a head injury in August

Concussed: Australia's Scott Fardy is taken off the pitch on a stretcher after being knocked out

Game changer: Rob Andrew has promised the RFU will take more action to tackle concussion in rugby

‘There’s clearly a huge focus on concussion at the moment, partly because of what’s happened in American Football,’ said Andrew.

‘But we’ve been at the forefront of moving this forward in the development game and professional game for a number of years now. The Mail on Sunday and others have highlighted that we need to keep pushing on and doing more, which we accept and we agree with.

‘The reason for setting up this concussion group is to say: “What more do we need to do?” The key areas we will focus on will be around education, to ensure everyone in the game recognises the importance of concussion.

‘Then we need to look at what more research we need to do to work with people who are already in this field, to get even more information to help make decisions. Whatever research is done will be independent and produced externally.

Serious problem: Rob Andrew has promised to make sure that more action is taken to tackle concussion

Promise: MP Chris Bryant said he would make sure awareness for concussion was raised in sport

‘I’m sure we will be speaking to outside experts. I won’t predict exactly who the group will consist of because we are still working through that, but there will be outside experts involved, I am absolutely sure of that.’

RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie, who oversaw a record £153million turnover last year, promised last night to make funds available to the concussion group, which will include operations director Andrew, development director Steve Grainger and RFU medical advisors Simon Kemp and Mike England.

‘I hope I can give parents reassurance that this is absolutely our No1 priority at the moment in terms of our injury agenda,’ added Andrew.

‘A cultural change needs to happen and one of the key aspects is around educating people as much as we can to recognise and remove players and ensure if you have a blow to the head you do not return to play unless you have been given the all-clear by a doctor. That is the unequivocal message from the game.’

The RFU, under the direction of Dr Kemp, have conducted a 10-year injury audit which found that in the 2010/11 season concussion was the most prevalent injury in the professional game. The results of the 2011-12 season audit will be published next month.

Discussion: Brian O'Driscoll was concussed during the match with New Zealand and spoke to Dr Eanna Falvey after the half-time whistle

Flat out: Newcastle Falcons' Jamie Helleur is concussed in the first game of the season against Bath

Last month, the RFU held a concussion forum at Twickenham which attracted more than 150 delegates, including vociferous critic Dr Barry O’Driscoll, who resigned from the International Rugby Board’s medical advisory panel last year in protest at the introduction of a five-minute Pitch Side Concussion Assesment trial.

The overwhelming majority of those attending agreed that more time should be given for doctors to assess players, and that now appears inevitable, despite continued pressure being exerted on the Scottish Rugby Union by the IRB to accept the trial during next year’s Six Nations. ‘There was an overwhelming view that the time-frame should be longer,’ said Andrew. ‘We will absolutely take into account what was said.’

Concussion has become a major concern for all contact sports after American Football’s governing body, the NFL, paid out $765m (£480m) to brain-damaged former players who claimed the game’s rulers had underplayed the risks for decades.

In August, a coroner found that 14-year-old schoolboy Ben Robinson died in 2011 after being allowed to stay on the pitch after suffering concussion.

HOW THE MAIL ON SUNDAY HAVE LEAD THE CONCUSSION CAMPAIGN

The Mail on Sunday’s campaign was
launched in September and called on rugby’s authorities to fund
independent research and introduce mandatory education for all players
and coaches, as well as compulsory independent assessment for any player
who suffers more than one concussion in a three-month period.

The campaign has already been
successful. In October, we reported that the Rugby Players’ Association
will introduce compulsory education for players next season, while
Premier Rugby are to insist on coaches undergoing the same training.

Last month, the International Rugby
Board finally accepted the possibility of an association between
concussion and early onset dementia, having previously denied any link,
while the RFU have also indicated their intention to institute
independent research into concussion.

And it appears certain that the
controversial five-minute Pitch Side Concussion Assessment will be
extended to a minimum of 10 minutes — and possibly even longer — to
allow medical staff to make a fuller assessment of players with
suspected concussion.